Sean says: “The moment you have all been waiting for … “Well intentioned Art”, my first exhibition, where all the money raised from sales of my pots will go to Rory’s Well, (www.roryswell.org), a charity I’m involved in that brings clean water wells to thousands of villagers in Sierra Leone. Please come!”

On Tuesday 5th January, Barnaby Elphick from Alive & Well visited the children and staff at Marksbury Primary School to give them an update on how things have progressed since their fundraising event in June 2015. As the presentation was to the whole school, the children were shown a recent Alive & Well film, and updated with lots of photos from the last monitoring visit which they thoroughly enjoyed.

In return, the students who make up the the Pupil Council, formally stood up and told Alive & Well that they have had a discussion and agreed that they want to adopt Alive & Well as their preferred charity, so that they can continue to develop links with Dia and the children at the school – which was very heartwarming!

They then went on to tell Alive & Well that they’ve held three other fundraising events since the one in June 2015 and made a presentation of two cheques, totalling £194.00. The children also presented a large box of stationary for the school, and another box of new stationary like pencil sets, crayons, pads, etc, that had been collected by the children to be given out amongst the children at Dia School.

This wonderful fundraising effort by the children is planned to be the first of many to build lasting links between the two schools in Marksbury, UK and Dia, Sierra Leone.

Thank you!

]]>1212Alive & Well help drill the dream.http://alivewell.org.uk/2016/01/alive-well-help-drill-the-dream/
Sun, 17 Jan 2016 19:26:29 +0000http://alivewell.org.uk/?p=1192Continue reading Alive & Well help drill the dream.→]]>37-year-old Adam Langford of Glastonbury had a dream to drill a water well in Africa. Alive & Well, a charity operating in Sierra Leone, made Adam’s dream come true. Adam, who has spent 17 years drilling boreholes, had always hoped to bring his skills to bear to alleviate poverty in Africa. It so happens that Alive & Well had already drilled 60 boreholes in Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest countries. Says Kim Findlay, managing director of Alive & Well, ‘Our African drilling crew was experienced but desperately needed training in the finer points of percussion drilling. When we were contacted by Adam, I knew we had the man to help us.’

In November 2015 Adam travelled to Freetown , to be met by a member of Sierra Leone’s parliament Hon Senesi Fawundu. From there they took a four-wheel drive truck and an eight-hour drive into the jungle to the village of Korigboma part of Mr Fawundu’s constituency.

Adam says ‘For the next 10 days I shared the life of the villagers eating their food and entertaining the kids at night, many of whom will have seen a white man only once or twice before.

During my stay, we were able to drill two holes. Unfortunately, we hit rock the first time and so moved to another village, Mano, where we found a good head of water at 10 metres.’

Life in Sierra Leone is not easy even by African standards. In the 1990’s Sierra Leone was in the grip of a vicious civil war. We spoke to villagers about the conflict and life since democracy was restored. Says Chief Komara of Mano Village, ‘The rebels came over the border from Liberia and took everything in this and other villages around here. Then they rounded up hundreds of villagers and forced them to walk in the jungle. Many died of illness and starvation. All the animals in the jungle were killed for food. Sometime the soldiers chopped off arms, hands, lips and ears. The war is passed, we are determined to live peacefully, even with people who were killing us then.’ Thirty metres from his house a mass grave attests to the killing.

I asked him about life in the village now. ‘We own some land where we farm rice, cocoa, and palm oil trees. The village gets two to three million Leonies a year from this. (The equivalent of £285!)’ With Ebola we were unable to trade, so we lost even this income.’ The village is home to about 250 people.

We asked a villager in Makka, where Alive & Well have drilled a well sponsored by Clifton College and another local charity, Rory’s Well, what difference has the well made to her life? Her name was Manawa Tuay, aged 80. Speaking through an interpreter she said ‘I had six children but two have died. I have lived in this village all my life. Before the well came last year we had to walk to the stream half a mile away for water. For me it was heavy carrying the water. But the water was dirty and my grandchildren often get diarrhoea. Nobody in my family died but I know lots of (other) children died before we got the well.’ Her words were echoed by Sombo Kallon of Semabu village who added ‘God Bless the well. Without the well we would have got Ebola. The stream is filthy because people defecate in it.’

Alive & Well aim to drill one well for every 250 people in a village. Says Adam Langford, ‘It is difficult to teach the drillers to work safely. I was keen to get across that if one of them is injured then the drilling must stop and people who should have clean water will not get it. I trained our guys how to lift the 150 kg drill bits properly and how to keep feet and hands intact. Drilling water in Sierra Leone makes me feel I personally can change lives for the better.’

Each well costs about £2,800 to drill and to install a pump. Alive & Well can be contacted at www.alivewell.org.uk.

For more information contact Sean Mills 01453 521421.

Sean is a volunteer with Alive & Well and went to Sierra Leone with Adam Langford.

UPDATE!

On Thursday 16th July, Senesi and Mariama Fawundu were able to visit Marksbury, and thank the children personally.

Senesi, who is MP for Pujehun District, Sierra Leone, spoke at the school assembly, and explained that the money raised would be used to provide a well at the primary school in the village of Dia, and that he would like to encourage the two schools to build links together. Dia primary school is located outside the village, so the children currently have no access to clean water while they are at school.

Jupiter Class (year 5 and 6) of Marksbury C of E Primary School(Map), near Bath, carried as much water as they could manage up and down a hill in the village, to raise funds for Alive & Well!

As part of the Junior Award Scheme for Schools (JASS), which is a bit like the Duke of Edinburgh award for primary aged children, the children in year 5/6 had to do a community-related event and they decided to raise money for Alive & Well (a charity who bring clean, safe drinking water to communities in desperate need of it).

On Monday 15th June, after weeks of planning and organisation, all of the children and staff challenged themselves to see how many litres they could carry up and down the hill in Marksbury, known as ‘the dipper’. It was a great team event and the children were really able to get an understanding of what it must be like for children in Africa who have to carry the water they need each day.

The children managed to carry an amazing 3,590 litres of water, with each lap walked being 240 metres. They then calculated that between them they had travelled over 86km during the afternoon. They even got adults and other children from the school involved. It was a baking hot day but they still carried on and most of them got soaking wet because the water containers kept leaking!

We have now heard that the children raised £1,172.27, which is absolutely fabulous!

Thank you! From Alive & Well and from Jupiter class (Year 5 and 6), for supporting their wonderful fundraising efforts!

And thank you from the children in Barri Chiefdom, Sierra Leone, who will now have access to clean water.

On Monday 15th June, Jupiter Class (year 5 and 6) of Marksbury C of E Primary School(Map),near Bath, carried as much water as they could manage up and down a hill in the village, to raise funds for Alive & Well!

As part of the Junior Award Scheme for Schools (JASS), which is a bit like the Duke of Edinburgh award for primary aged children, the children in year 5/6 had to do a community-related event and they decided to raise money for Alive & Well (a charity who bring clean, safe drinking water to communities in desperate need of it).

On Monday 15th June, after weeks of planning and organisation, all of the children and staff challenged themselves to see how many litres they could carry up and down the hill in Marksbury, known as ‘the dipper’. It was a great team event and the children were really able to get an understanding of what it must be like for children in Africa who have to carry the water they need each day.

The children managed to carry an amazing 3,590 litres of water, with each lap walked being 240 metres. They then calculated that between them they had travelled over 86km during the afternoon. They even got adults and other children from the school involved. It was a baking hot day but they still carried on and most of them got soaking wet because the water containers kept leaking!

We have now heard that the children raised £1,172.27, which is absolutely fabulous!

Thank you! From Alive & Well and from Jupiter class (Year 5 and 6), for supporting their wonderful fundraising efforts!

And thank you from the children in Barri Chiefdom, Sierra Leone, who will now have access to clean water.

]]>1066Alive & Well after Ebola – come and meet us on the 15th Julyhttp://alivewell.org.uk/2015/06/alive-well-after-ebola/
Sun, 21 Jun 2015 21:50:47 +0000http://alivewell.org.uk/?p=968You are invited to find out more & meet Hon Senesi Fawundu, Sierra Leonean MP, Tribal Chief and Alive & Well Country manager.

]]>968A truck named Ma! Already helping to bring clean water to the villages of Barri Chiefdomhttp://alivewell.org.uk/2015/04/ma-sherrifla/
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 10:21:46 +0000http://alivewell.org.uk/?p=798Continue reading A truck named Ma! Already helping to bring clean water to the villages of Barri Chiefdom→]]>

Ma!, Alive & Well’s new Drilling Support Vehicle, seen here with the Drilling Crew, has been put straight to work. A well was previously drilled in the village of Sherrifla, but unfortunately it failed in the dry season. In line with Alive & Well’s commitment to ensure that wells drilled provide clean water all year round, a new borehole will be sunk using the metal drilling casings recently arrived from the UK. These casings will enable the borehole to be drilled deeper into the aquifer, ensuring a reliable water supply.

Ma! in Sherrifla, Barri Chiefdom.

]]>798A truck named Ma! Safely arrived in Sierra Leonehttp://alivewell.org.uk/2015/04/a-truck-named-ma-safely-arrived-in-sierra-leone/
Sun, 26 Apr 2015 16:07:35 +0000http://alivewell.org.uk/?p=781Ma! has now cleared Freetown docks, and has safely arrived at the Pujehun Development Organisation’s compound in Bo. Ma! will go straight into service, bringing clean water to the villages of Barri Chiefdom.

]]>781A truck named Ma! On her way to Sierra Leonehttp://alivewell.org.uk/2015/04/a-truck-named-ma-on-her-way-to-sierra-leone/
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:28:14 +0000http://alivewell.org.uk/?p=635Continue reading A truck named Ma! On her way to Sierra Leone→]]>On her way to Tilbury docks and shipping to Sierra Leone, Ma! paid a visit to Malmesbury School in Wiltshire.

Malmesbury School have been fundraising for Alive & Well over the past five years, so it was fantastic to visit the school to thank them for all their support. Seen here is Alive & Well Managing Director Kim Findlay, who was interviewed by BBC Radio Wiltshire (scroll to 13.45 minutes to hear the interview).

Update, 2nd April 2015

Ma! is now in transit to Freetown, Sierra Leone, due to arrive on the 17th April. Here are some photos, showing the final preparations and drilling equipment installed: